Shoe cleaning tool



Feb. 25, 1964 H. c. LINDMARK SHOE CLEANING TOOL Filed Jan. 11, 1962 lEPIC I IZL- United States Patent 3,121,899 SHGE (ILEANENG TQOL Howard C.Lindmark, 1206 Kishwaukee St., Rockford, Ill. Filed .l'an. 11, 1962,Ser. No. 165,629 2 Claims. Cl. 15237) This invention relates generallyto tools for clecning shoe soles, and more particularly, to a tool forcleaning the sole of a bowling shoe. During usage, a bowling shoe picksup oil, wax, lint and other foreign material which causes the shoe totend to stick on the approach of the bowling alley and interferes withthe desired sliding action of the bowler during delivery of the bowlingball.

The primary object of the present invention is to provide a shoecleaning tool of simple and inexpensive construction adapted to cleanthe sole of a bowling shoe and then condition the cleaned sole toprovide the desired sliding action during delivery of a bowling ball bythe wearer of the shoe.

Another object is to provide a shoe cleaning tool having different edgesfor roughening the sole to clean foreign material from the sole and thensmoothing the roughened sole for a proper sliding action.

A more detailed object is to form the two edges on a head which isconstructed in a novel manner and connected to a handle so that thehandle reinforces and is located positively with respect to the head.

The invention also resides in the novel construction of the handle toaccommodate other accessories to be used by the bowler.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent fromthe following detailed description taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a shoe cleaning tool embodying thenovel features of the invention;

PEG. 2 is a side elevational view of the tool shown in a position tosmooth a roughened sole;

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the tool positioned to roughen andclean the sole;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary bottom plan view of the tool;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along the line 5-5 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a rear elevational view of the head;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary enlarged side elevational view of the handlepartially broken away and shown in section; and

PEG. 8 is an enlarged fragmentary view similar to FIG. 7 and showing amodified handle construction.

The present invention is especially suited for use by bowlers tocondition their shoes to obtain a desired sliding action as the bowlercompletes his delivery of a bowling ball. It is common for foreignmatter to accumulate on the soles of the bowlers shoes as the bowlerwalks around the approaches to the bowling alley and the surroundingfioor area, such foreign matter including oil, wax and lint. Thismaterial tends to cause the bowlers shoes to stick to the approach tothe alley and thereby interfere with the bowlers desired slidingdelivery.

The present invention contemplates the provision of a novel tool 10which is of simple and inexpensive construction and which is especiallyadapted for cleaning the sole ll of a bowlers shoe and then conditioningthe sole to insure a proper sliding action upon delivery of a bowlingball. To these ends, two edges 12 and 13 are formed on the tool, oneedge 12 being roughened or irregular so as to loosen foreign materialand abrade the sole. The other edge 13 is a generally straight edgespaced from the first edge and adapted to engage the sole to smooth itafter it has been roughened and cleaned.

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The two edges are secured to a handle 14 which is grasped by the userand manipulated to position the individual edges selectively against thesole and draw the effective edge along the sole.

To simplify the construction and reduce the cost, the two edges 12 and13 are formed on a head 15 which is separate from but secured to thehandle 14. The head is elongated and is of U-shaped cross section andthe edges are the terminations of laterally spaced parallel legs 16 and17 of the head. These legs are connected by a fiat closed end portion 18which is secured to One end portion 19 of the handle, the handleprojecting away from the head at an angle in a direction opposite to thedirection of projection of the legs from the closed end.

To position the handle positively with respect to the head and toreinforce the head, the end portion 19 of the head is flattened andextends through an aperture 20 in one leg 17 to lie against the innerside of the closed end 18 of the U to which it is secured rigidly, inthis instance, by a rivet 21. The desired abrading action of theroughened edge is achieved herein by upsetting spaced portions 22 of theleg which terminates in this edge, the upset portions being straight andof arcuate cross section and extending inwardly from the edge inparallel relation and approximately halfway from the edge to the closedend of the U.

In one of its more detailed aspects, the invention contemplates a novelconstruction of the handle 14 to accommodate other accessories for thebowler. For this purpose, the other end portion of the handle remotefrom the flat end portion 19 preferably is made hollow and is closed bya removable cap 23. The handle thus constitutes a container which may beopened and closed selectively to receive accessories. For example, asshown in FIG. 7, the handle may contain a tube 24 of powder 25 which maybe applied to the sole 11 after the smoothing operation.

Another alternative is shown in FIG. 8. There, the diameter of thehollow end portion of the handle is made somewhat larger to receive abrush 26 which may be used with suitable cleaning materials to clean thefinger holes of a bowling ball. While the cap 23 may take various forms,it is of inverted cup shape in this instance and telescopes over theouter side of the open end of the tube, its material preferably beingresilient so as to grip the handle and remain in position thereon.

The novel tool 10 described above is especially suited for formation instamping operations. After the head 15 and handle 14 are cut and stampedto their desired shapes from plate and tube stock, they are assembled byinserting the flat end portion 19 of the handle through the aperture 2t)and along the inner side of the closed end 18 of the head until the endof the flattened portion of the handle abuts the remote leg 16 of thehead opposite the aperture. This brings into registry a hole 27 in theclosed end of the head and another hole 28 in the flat end portion ofthe handle (FIG. 5), the two holes receiving the rivet 21 for securingthe head and handle together. After the rivet is secured in place, adesired accessory 25 may be inserted in the handle which is then closedby fitting the cap 23 over the open end.

In using the improved tool It to clean a shoe sole 11, first the handle14 is turned to bring only the roughened edge 12 into engagement withthe shoe sole as shown in FIG. 3. The tool then is reciprocated as shownby the double arrow in that figure so that the edge roughens or abradesthe shoe sole and removes the foreign matter which may be on the sole.The handle then is turned to raise the roughened edge out of contactwith the sole and to move the strai ht edge 13 into engagement with thesole as shown in FIG. 2. This edge then is moved along the sole tosmooth the roughened portions thereby conditioning the clean sole forsliding as the bowler delivers the ball. If desired, the tube 24 ofpowder 25 may be removed from the handle and the powder applied to thesmooth sole to further enhance the sliding action.

It will be apparent that the novel cleaning tool not only is simple andinexpensive to construct, but also, is rugged and enables the shoe soleto be cleaned and then returned easily to a smooth finish suitable forsliding. Ruggedness is achieved by the flat end portion of the handlelying against, and thus reinforcing, the closed end of the U, by theabutment of that fiat end portion of the handle against one leg 16 andby the interfitting of the flat end portion with those parts of theother leg 17 defining the aperture 20. By making the handle hollow andclosing it with the removable cap 23, this part of the tool may be usedconveniently to carry other accessories such as the tube 24 of powder 25and the hole-cleaning brush 26.

I claim:

1. A shoe cleaning tool having, in combination, an elongated handlehaving a short flat end portion and a longer generally straight portiondisposed at an obtuse included angle with respect to the fiat endportion, a head member of U-shaped cross section secured to said flatend portion of said handle and having a flat closed end portion and twolaterally spaced legs, one of said legs having an aperture extendingalong the junction between the leg and said closed end of the head andsaid flat end portion of said handle extending through said aperture andlying along and secured to the inner side of the closed end with saidstraight portion of the handle extending angularly away from the closedhead end in a direction opposite to the direction of extension of thelegs.

2. A shoe cleaning tool having, in combination, a head member ofU-shaped cross section with a flat closed end portion and two laterallyspaced legs, one of said legs having an elongated aperture extendingalong the junction between the leg and said closed end of the head, anelongated handle having a short fiat end portion extending through andfitting closely within said aperture and lying along the inner side ofsaid closed end of said head with a straight end of the end portionabutting the other of said legs, and a connection rigidly securing saidflat end portion of said handle against the inner side of said flatclosed end portion of said head.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS D.7,489 Reed June 9, 1874 1,204,764 Helmich Nov. 14, 1916 2,219,436Anderson Oct. 29, 1940 2,236,093 Friend Mar. 25, 1941 2,556,797 CarlsonJune 12, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS 826,644 France Jan. 8, 1938

1. A SHOE CLEANING TOOL HAVING, IN COMBINATION, AN ELONGATED HANDLEHAVING A SHORT FLAT END PORTION AND A LONGER GENERALLY STRAIGHT PORTIONDISPOSED AT AN OBTUSE INCLUDED ANGLE WITH RESPECT TO THE FLAT ENDPORTION, A HEAD MEMBER OF U-SHAPED CROSS SECTION SECURED TO SAID FLATEND PORTION OF SAID HANDLE AND HAVING A FLAT CLOSED END PORTION AND TWOLATERALLY SPACED LEGS, ONE OF SAID LEGS HAVING AN APERTURE EXTENDINGALONG THE JUNCTION BETWEEN THE LEG AND SAID CLOSED END OF THE HEAD ANDSAID FLAT END PORTION OF SAID HANDLE EXTENDING THROUGH SAID APERTURE ANDLYING ALONG AND SECURED TO THE INNER SIDE OF THE CLOSED END WITH SAIDSTRAIGHT PORTION OF THE HANDLE EXTENDING ANGULARLY AWAY FROM THE CLOSEDHEAD END IN A DIRECTION OPPOSITE TO THE DIRECTION OF EXTENSION OF THELEGS.